Yahoo Go for TV

This media-PC software looked kind of interesting, but my ultimate reaction is the same as Jupiter analyst Michael Gartenberg:

What I don't understand is why Yahoo is spending the time and effort to do this. Microsoft's already much further ahead (from what I've seen of the download) and offers much better out of the box experience. There's no reason that Yahoo can't offer the unique services it brings to the table, like Yahoo Photos or Music via the MCE interface. This is one of those things where it just doesn't make sense to re-invent the wheel.

I agree. And the same goes for Yahoo's Music Engine. Why couldn't this have been a plug-in to Windows Media Player. Like we need another media manager to install.

More evidence that newspapers are clueless about the future

From Poynter, where a reporter talks about trying to find a story online:

So I went to Philly.com and searched for it.

You guessed it: It's not there. Or at least when I searched for it in their search box, it didn't come up. (You can only search Philly.com articles for the last seven days.)

Next step? Google.

I typed in exactly the same search command, and -- yup, you guessed it again -- up comes the article. From Philly.com.

Is something wrong with this picture? Indeed.

Visual Studio Express free forever!

Microsoft has extended its one-year deal to offer stripped-down versions of its Visual Studio tools, along with some cool code snippets.

San Francisco/Bay Bridge Night

Cool picture.

Google Calendar is live

And it's pretty slick.

Yahoo Maps adds satellite imagery

I wonder where Yahoo got that idea.

Is there anything vinegar can't do?

The Vinegar Institute - Uses & Tips

Freedom is on the march

From today's USA Today:

A man in Afghanistan is being prosecuted in a Kabul court and could be sentenced to death after being charged with converting from Islam to Christianity, a crime under the country's Islamic sharia laws, a judge said Sunday.

More Origami skepticism

From eWeek:
Ultramobile PC Is Already Teetering, Analysts Say

But, being neither a phone or PDA, nor a notebook is exactly the problem, Gartner analysts contend in a new report released on March 14. The first devices' mix of prices and features are not convincing enough to inspire wide adoption among consumers and businesses. Thus, unless changes are made that allow the devices to offer more features for lower prices, UMPCs could be destined for lackluster sales, the analysts wrote.

Light up animated Pac-Man bicycle wheels

Cool.

Origami: Buzz Killer?

Gadget Web site Gizmodo seems to agree with me about the first batch of Origami products.

Intel shows Origami-like device

So this is what all the fuss was about? The leaked promotional videos looked cool, but the reality falls a little flat.

Sure, who wouldn't want a lightweight, all-in-one "lifestyle" computer? I'd sure like a portable device that could do everything from Web-surfing to e-mail to GPS-enabled driving directions to games to music.

Oh wait, I already have that. It's called a Pocket PC. OK, the Origami would have been a full-fledged PC, something my iPaq is definitely not.

But the prototype device mentioned in the Cnet story gets just three hours of battery life, making it not too much more useful than today's Tablet PCs. The coolest Origami device Intel is showing gets just fifteen minutes!

Intel predicts all-day battery life within a couple of years, but lets get real. Laptops haven't increased capacity much in the last 20 years. And for Origami to be a breakthrough device, it would have to last a long time between charges. I mean, mobility is the whole point, right?

Microsoft isn't officially revealing Origami until Thursday, so maybe there's something more to it. Let's hope so.

MercuryNews.com | 03/06/2006 | Searching for an answer to Google Desktop problem

I didn't know this, but here's another reason to pick Windows Desktop Search over Google Desktop. Basically, if you dare move a file that has been indexed, Google Desktop loses track of it.

Google's solution, according to the Merc: uninstall and reinstall the program, then wait a few hours while it re-indexes the data. Despite what the Merc says, I have a feeling that just reindexing the data would do the job. But still -- what a pain. Even then, the time theoretically saved with faster file searches goes right down the drain. As brilliant as they are, it looks like the Google folks need a little more insight into how real people use their computers.

On the other hand, I just noticed that Microsoft is still forcing users to install the worse-than-useless MSN Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search. The "enterprise" version doesn't have this requirement, but it might be complicated to install (no firsthand experience, just looking at the install page).

Skype me

After playing around with the final version of Skype 2.0, I think I'm going to make it my main IM client, at least on my laptop.

First, it seems to manage memory much better than Yahoo At idle, Skype uses 4-5 megs, vs. 19 or more for Yahoo -- and once Yahoo needs more memory for a higher-end feature , it never seems to give it back up when it's done. Adding IM environments, animated gestures, Yahoo Music integration adds up.

Skype's voice calling features are still the best among the IM clients I've tried -- though I haven't played around with Google Talk's voice features yet. Being able to forward calls to regular phones and having a version for Pocket PCs are really handy features. Video conferencing (at least for Windows) just clinches the deal.

The one downside, of course, is that most of my friends are on Yahoo. If only someone made a Yahoo plugin for Skype...

IE 7.0

I finally got around to playing with the new beta for Internet Explorer 7. I'm not quite ready to switch back from Firefox yet, but it's a big improvement. I especially like the slick RSS features, such as on-the-fly keyword filtering.

It can automatically download updates in the background and attach files, even if IE isn't running. Downloaded into the right folder, that means Windows finally might support automated podcasts on Windows media devices. But if this is true, I don't know why Microsoft doesn't come right out and say it. I'll try setting something up tonight to see if it works.

The Web page thumbnails -- which work a little like Apple's Expose feature -- are also nice.

Ten Reasons to Buy Windows Vista

Here's PC World's list. I'm looking forward to the much-needed security overhaul and improved desktop search functions. I'm ambivalent about the Aero interface, because it might mean buying new computers -- not to mention taking another Windows UI programming class. And Firefox made Internet Explorer irrelevant a long time ago.

Dvorak: Will Apple Adopt Windows?

His argument is similar to one I've been making for years. If Apple sold Windows machines, it would become one of the top-selling PC makers overnight.

In rare flop, Starbucks scraps chocolate drink

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Chantico, we hardly knew ye.

Googling

Google has been busy lately.

The search giant has released version 3 of its desktop search software with a couple of intriguing new features:

- Search across computers. Basically, this lets you search for files on multiple computers. Basically, it creates a searchable index that is synchronized among all of your computers, letting you pull up copies of files on another machine. All the computers have to be using the software and signed in with your Google account, but the syncing takes place in the background, and unlike services such as Microsoft's FolderShare, they don't all have to be online at the same time. Privacy issues aside, this would be pretty handy in my line of work, where information is often scattered across multiple PCs.

- Integrated contact info. This integrates the desktop with Gmail and Google Talk instant messenger into the search sidebar, making it easy to share info with your IM buddies. And like the Google Toolbar, desktop search now suggests alternative spellings for your queries.

Speaking of Gmail, desktop search now makes a searchable index of your Gmail messages so you can find old e-mail even when not online. Apparently, this is an older feature I didn't know about until now. At any rate, it eliminates Web-based e-mail's biggest weakness, offline access to your messages. Suddenly, Microsoft Outlook isn't such a must-have.

Another soon-to-be-unveiled Gmail feature will integrate Google Talk with e-mail, letting users strike up IM chats with e-mail contacts and archiving copies of old chats.

Because of these and other nifty features, I would love to use Google Desktop as my main PC search tool. I love the fact that a Google search can pull up info from the Web, my e-mail and past stories I've written -- all on one page.

But alas, I am sticking with Windows Desktop Search. First, the Google version still doesn't index Microsoft OneNote files, which contain much of the information I need access to regularly. It's only second to e-mail in that respect. Second, the new Google Desktop requires 256 megs of RAM, which unfortunately is too much for my ancient laptop. The software is still in beta, so maybe that will change.

On the bright side, looking at Google's new offering did spark me to reexamine the Microsoft product. I'd forgotten how powerful it is, with tons of options to narrow searches. One of my new favorites is real-world terms I can use in queries, such as "sent: last week" or "received: December." Nice.

BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » New News: Deconstructing the newspaper

Intersting crtitique of most daily newspapers and what they need to drop to survive.